CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Graydon Megan | April 17, 2013

Rejecting claims of a direct link between violent video games and violent behavior, Elmhurst Public Library board members Tuesday turned down requests by a small group of residents to change the library’s selection policy for violent video games.

“There’s no evidence I can see between these games and violent behavior,” said library director Mary Beth Campe.

Campe and board members made clear they see the inclusion of the materials in the library’s collection as an issue of First Amendment freedom of expression.

Schuetz, who spoke for the citizen group Tuesday, insisted the group is not asking for a ban on the games.

“We are asking the library to implement improved selection criteria and procedures,” Schuetz told board members.

Read on…

Related NDLA IF postings

SALEM NEWS ONLINE
ACLU | March 6, 2013

In a consent judgment signed Tuesday, a federal district court-ordered the Salem Public Library to stop blocking patrons’ access to websites related to minority religions that the library’s web filters classified as “occult” or “criminal.” Blocking access to material based solely on viewpoint is a violation of the First Amendment.

Judge E. Richard Webber entered the judgment in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Eastern Missouri on behalf of a Salem resident who was blocked from researching websites discussing minority religions’ ideas about death or death rituals.

“Even libraries that are required by federal law to install filtering software to block certain sexually explicit content should never use software to prevent patrons from learning about different cultures,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the ACLU-EM.

The resident had originally protested to library director Glenda Wofford about not being able to access websites about Native American religions and the Wiccan faith.

Read on…

Original NDLA posting.

RELATED ARTICLES:
“Judge rules Salem Public Library can’t block website content”
(5 KDSK | March 6, 2013)

“Missouri library agrees not to block witch websites”
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch | Robert Patrick | March 6, 2013)

“‘Access Denied’: Net Filtering in Rhode Island Schools”
(Bookshelves of Doom | March 14, 2013)

LA TIMES
Carolyn Kellogg | December 6, 2012

There was a reason Alan Moore’s “Neonomicon” was shelved in the adult section of the library in Greenville County, South Carolina: It contains adult content. And it was checked out with an adult library card — but that adult library card was in the hands of a 14-year-old girl.

When the girl asked her mother about an unfamiliar word she found in “Neonomicon,” the trouble started. The mother, Carrie Gaske, filed an official challenge against the graphic novel in June. An official decision has now been made to ban it from the library.

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Original NDLA IF Blog posting

THE JOURNAL GAZETTE
Rebecca S. Green | October 10, 2012

A Fort Wayne man wants a federal judge to force the Allen County Public Library to let him “educate” the public on the federal health care law before the upcoming election.

In the motion for a preliminary injunction filed Tuesday, David J. Kolhoff’s attorneys argue he is likely to win his case on First Amendment grounds and faces irreparable harm if he cannot conduct his activities before the Nov. 6 general election.

He wants the judge to force the library to let him use either the plaza or the Great Hall for his activities before the election.

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